When it comes to electronics, hubby is all about latest and greatest. Sometimes it is an issue for us, because I can’t remember things like whether or not regular DVDs will play in a Blu-Ray player, or if Blu-Rays play in a regular player. He has consistently worked with me on this, but every time I buy a new movie, I still feel compelled to ask, “Will this work with our system?”
I would have preferred to continue using VHS tapes and VCRs. There is something satisfying about the substantial size and shape of a VHS tape. I never have to worry about them getting scratched, and I don’t have to stand around waiting to hit “play” for the kids before I can go wash the dishes.
I have fond memories of our first VCR. When we were newly married, we lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Bible belt is known for having a church on every corner, but all the storefronts lined up between the corners are pawn shops. In hubby’s estimation, this was one of the best things about the area.
On one of his first trips to a pawn shop, he came home with a VCR. Up to that point, the little T.V. we brought from his parents’ house had been sitting on a metal folding chair. But now that we had a VCR we needed an entertainment center! So, he tossed our clothes in a laundry basket and converted our hand-me-down chest of drawers into a storage center for the T.V., VCR, and any VHS tapes we might eventually have the money to buy. It looked great, and we felt so grown up!
When his mom and dad came to visit, hubby proudly waved his hand towards the entertainment center and asked, “Can you tell what this used to be?”
His dad replied, “The dresser from your bedroom at home.”
Not even a question in his voice.
We didn’t have much, but hubby was always able to trade what we had for something better. This is how we got our first CD player, which made absolutely no sense to me. I thought it would just sit around and collect dust because we would never want to quit playing cassette tapes. But he persevered and eventually our cassette collection fell by the way side. Twenty years later, he’s trying to convince me to use on iPod, but I still continue to buy CDs. I am sort of fascinated by MP3s, but I feel like they aren’t really real. If I can’t hold the cover in my hands, does the music actually exist? No, I don’t believe it does.
Last weekend I heard a keynote address by Alan Zweibel. Alan was one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, and has had an impressive Hollywood writing career. He also wrote a book turned somewhat obscure movie called North. It starred many big names, Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, but it’s still so obscure that I noticed it’s not even listed in the bio on Zweibel’s webpage.
During the course of his presentation, he shared a review from the movie. It starts out something like this, “I hate the movie North. I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it!”
I couldn’t believe it! It is one of my all-time favorites movies! In fact, during the Q&A session after Zweibel’s presentation, I stood up and said, “I love, love, love, love, love the movie North!”
He replied, “Where were you when I needed you?”
I love the movie so much, that a few years ago I scoured video stores, and searched the internet until I found a copy. It was only available on VHS.
Hubby nearly had a stroke when I walked into the house carrying a brand new VCR. “Why on earth did you buy that dinosaur?!”
But I decided to take control of my electronic life, and if I want to watch VHS tapes, gosh darn it, I will watch VHS tapes! I have since added two more movies to my collection. Foul Play with Chevy Chase, and Private Eyes with Don Knotts and Tim Conway. Some things are classics, and you have to do whatever is necessary to preserve them.
There is another movie I’d like to own. I have great memories of watching it in elementary school. We weren’t allowed to go to movie theaters, so it was a big deal when the teacher wheeled the movie projector into our classroom on a big cart. So now I’m in the market for a dog flick called, “Hurry Home, Candy.” And I’m searching pawn shops, trying to locate a 16mm Bell and Howell movie projector. Just don’t mention it to hubby.
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